Mike Jioia, a Great Kills resident and former assistant football coach at St. Joseph by-the-Sea and Tottenville, has been named varsity head coach at Xaverian HS in Brooklyn, the Advance has learned.

Jioia, who is also currently Sea's junior varsity softball coach, will take over from Joe DiSiena, whose team went 2-7 this season.

Jioia served as an assistant under DiSiena the past two seasons. He was Xaverian's offensive coordinator in 2005-06, and the Clippers scored 48 touchdowns en route to winning the 2006 CHSFL AA (second tier) championship.

Jioia, a retired NYPD sergeant with a masters degree in education, accepted the coaching job after being offered a full-time teaching position at the school.

"I've been working in the Empire State Building in security, and was helping out as a part-time assistant (at Xaverian)," said Jioia, who says he will continue to coach Sea softball. "(Former Xaverian coach) Dom Laurendi knew the way I coached, and had changed the whole offense. He had worked on the spread option."

Jioia's extensive coaching experience on both sides of the ball includes stints as an assistant at Tottenville (1989-93) and Sea (2002-05). He coached at William Paterson University on the defensive line in 2008, and worked with the offense and quarterbacks in 2010.

Jioia coached at Globe Institute of Technology, leading the school to a 5-2 record in its inaugural season of 2007. And he worked with the NYPD Finest football team as a head coach from 2003-05, leading the squad to the National Public Safety Football League championship in 2004 and '05.

"(Before coaching at William Paterson) I had never coached defense, but a coach named Chad Braine, who had been defensive coordinator at Eastern Michigan, taught me a lot," said Jioia. "I had always been an offensive coordinator, but he knew defensive football and taught me how to scheme."

In 2012, Xaverian finished seventh in the CHSFL AAA division — the league's top tier — and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Iona Prep. St. George resident and senior running back Laray Smith, a Division I recruit in football and track, missed several games with a high ankle sprain. Jioia said Xaverian has been dropped to the AA level.

"We're rated as a No. 15 team," said Jioia, who played at Hofstra University in 1988 and says organizational skill is his strength. "This past year, we had the skills players but didn't have the linemen. Also, the numbers (in terms of players) has gone down. We had eight guys going both ways. They've raised the level of testing (to get into the school) and they're looking a lot at discipline. But I'm hoping to boost the numbers a little bit." 